


Pull To Go Up, Push To Go Down

by GnomeIgnominious



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Dubious Consent, HIV/AIDS Crisis, M/M, Unprotected Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:35:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28939335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GnomeIgnominious/pseuds/GnomeIgnominious
Summary: Herc heaves a sigh and Douglas wordlessly lets him pull him into his arms. He feels shaky and sad and so fucking powerless. After all he's read in the papers... Rory's the first person they know to be diagnosed. He wonders how many more times he'll answer the phone to a friend to hear the same thing over the next few years.
Relationships: Douglas Richardson/Herc Shipwright
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	Pull To Go Up, Push To Go Down

**Author's Note:**

> Douglas and Herc are in an on again-off again relationship between marriages up until Douglas loses his job at Air England. This fic takes place in the early days of that relationship (in real world terms, early to mid 1984).
> 
> Please heed the tags.

Douglas is half asleep when he feels the bed dip behind him and the covers slide off his shoulders. Herc's been away on a three week string of long haul flights between Heathrow and JFK and they've only seen each other once in that time, stealing a quick and messy snog and a mutual handjob in the pilots' lounge toilets at Heathrow when their flight plans had overlapped. Douglas cracks open an eye to squint at the clock -- 3:10am -- and begins to drift off to sleep again as Herc slips an arm over his chest and cuddles up behind him.

"Hello," Herc murmurs behind him and plants a kiss under the corner of his jaw. Douglas gives a half-hearted snore in return. While sleepy sex is doubtless a turn-on for some, Douglas is _really_ not in the mood at the moment.

"Douglas." Herc's still kissing at his jaw and neck, and Douglas shivers as Herc slips a finger down and _into_ him. His prick hardens a little, despite himself.

"Get _off_ ," he growls into the pillow. "I'm asleep."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Herc drawls and reaches around to lazily tug Douglas's burgeoning erection. "My mistake."

Douglas groans. Herc is just as stubborn as Douglas can be when he gets an idea in his head, and he can be particularly determined in the bedroom. Douglas realises he'll lose less sleep if he just lets Herc get on with it, rather than trying to argue when his brain is so sleep-addled, and losing anyway.

Herc's fingers are back in his arse, this time, thankfully, with lube. Douglas has tried to get Herc to slow this bit down before, to prepare him a little better, to convey to him that he actually likes being fingered, but Herc always seems to be in a bit of a rush, too eager to get to the part where he -

Douglas groans again as the thick head of Herc's cock pushes inside him. 

"Fuck, Douglas," Herc sounds out of breath. "God, that feels good. _You_ feel good."

Something's not right. Douglas can't quite put his finger on it, tries to push away the muzziness of sleep and _think,_ but then Herc's moving, half straddling him and fucking him determinedly into the bed.

Douglas shifts his weight a little so that he's getting a bit of friction on his cock against the sheets where it's trapped under his body, but makes no further move to increase his own enjoyment. Herc will get himself off soon enough and roll over and he will be able to get back to sleep.

Herc's speeding up and babbling a string of half-finished words into Douglas's ear, his breath hot on the back of Douglas's neck. It doesn't take long before his hips snap and still as he spends himself deep inside Douglas.

After a moment, Herc pulls out with a groan. That's when Douglas realises what's wrong. He can feel something hot and wet between his thighs and in the crack of his arse.

"Did you just...?" He rolls over, and in the half dark of the bedroom watches Herc cleaning himself up with a tissue. He licks his lips and tries again. "Where's the condom?"

"What?" Herc chucks the tissue in the direction of the waste basket and moves as if to cuddle back up to Douglas, but Douglas pulls away and sits up, actually awake now.

"Where's the condom?"

"I didn't use one." Herc's voice is light. "I didn't think I needed to. We haven't always bothered before."

Douglas feels sick. "You must have seen the news. It's getting worse. The spread."

"But we've been together for nearly a year now." Herc tries again to put his arm round Douglas. "You think I've been unfaithful?"

Douglas shrugs him off and gets out of bed, erection well and truly gone. He stalks round to Herc's side to get a tissue and wipe up the remains of Herc's come, now rapidly crusting between his legs. It feels like something of a futile gesture.

"Don't you trust me?" Herc actually sounds upset. Douglas can't bring himself to look at him. "Remind me, Douglas, which of the two of us is in fact _married_ at the moment?"

Douglas sighs and gets back into bed, the gold of his wedding ring seeming more obvious than ever against the pale sheets.

"You know that Cath and I agreed, _together,_ to separate for a while," he grits out. "And _she_ never thrust herself on me without a condom while I was clearly barely awake."

"Well, unless _Catherine_ used to be _Cameron_ I'm hardly surprised about _that_."

Douglas shoots him a look which Herc misses in the dark.

"Are you all right, old thing?" Herc takes his hand, runs a thumb over his knuckles. He's trying to be comforting.

Douglas swallows. He knows his ire isn't directed at Herc, not really. He's just worried. More than that, in fact. He's afraid.

"I had a call from David yesterday."

"David...?"

" _Rory's_ David."

"Oh, right."

"Rory's in hospital."

"Oh, poor chap! What happened?"

"He's... well, the doctors are saying pneumonia, but David told me that they did some more tests and... it turns out Rory's HIV positive. They think he might not make it. And even if he does, the next bad infection he gets could be it."

Herc heaves a sigh and Douglas wordlessly lets him pull him into his arms. He feels shaky and sad and so fucking _powerless_. After all he's read in the papers... Rory's the first person they know to be diagnosed. He wonders how many more times he'll answer the phone to a friend to hear the same thing over the next few years. 

Then he thinks about the opposite -- having to call their friends to tell them that Herc's in hospital. Or, and his stomach turns as he considers it, Herc having to call Catherine, Ian, his mother, to break the same news.

Herc squeezes his hand. "Can we go and see him?"

Douglas shrugs. "I can ask David."

"I think they'd both like that."

"Mmm."

It's hours later and the sun is shining through the gap in the curtains before either of them manages to fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> A note on the characters mentioned: Catherine is Douglas's (first) wife, Ian is his brother and Rory is of course the old EOAC captain Douglas flew with when he first started out.
> 
> Find me on tumblr for exclusive 3am herclas thoughts: malcolm-f-tucker.tumblr.com.


End file.
